Finding the Best Bass Fishing Areas
Thursday, May 21st, 2009What is it about bass fishing that makes everyone so driven? People get fond of bass fishing that is why every trend that they hear about it really catches their interests and as much as possible get into it.
“Where are the what…? Where are the bass!” How many of the anglers (tournament and recreational) go to a body of water you’ve never fished before, drop the boat in the water, then, ask this question to yourself? This is probably one of the biggest topics in bass fishing that an angler should learn more about.
Here you will be getting information on how to locate areas best for bass fishing.
Locating bass and understanding the water would be the number one question among bass anglers today. The next most asked question would be is which baits they should use to catch a “big” bass.
Now when you think about it, there are really only two (2) main topics that go hand-in-hand when it comes to bass fishing. If you understood more about these two, you would definitely become a much better angler, and they are:
1. Learning how to locate bass.
2. Knowing how to catch bass using all the different techniques, presentations, and baits.
Learning how to locate bass can be somewhat of a challenge to many anglers because there are so many different considerations that need to be determined such as:
1. How to read a map - this is a need to know skill that you should try to learn because through a map it is easier for you to decide on the best location good for bass fishing.
2. Knowing the most practical places to look for Active Bass just after cold fronts and during early spring and late fall periods - weather condition must be especially considered as well.
3. Importance of water depth- water depth is an important element because the depth or the hollowness of the water will be one factor to know if it is a good location for bass.
4. Water clarity- you need to learn about the water clarity of your location to determine if it’s a good place for bass.
5. Correct Water temperatures
6. Seasonal patterns- this is in relation with the trend whether bass fishing is seasonal or not.
7. Finding structures in the area
8. Locating vegetation areas
There is a lot more than this! Being a consistent bass angler is so much more than just getting in your boat, hitting the water, and casting your baits. That’s why bass tournaments are so competitive and exciting, because the more you learn about locating bass the quicker you can start catching them right? And hey, isn’t that half the battle?
Let’s start by looking at a lake map. There are two general types of lake maps that most anglers will use which are referred to as the; “Hot Spot” and “Topographical” maps. The differences between the two is that a “Topo” map shows more detail, and the “Hot Spots” map shows more fishing spots (well, at least they’re supposed to).
The secret (or key) in learning how to use a lake map would be to sector the map. What I mean by this is that I will take the map and study it for a moment (looking for areas where the fish would most likely be.) Next, I will (using a highlighter) divide the map in sections based on how much time I have to pre-fish for a tournament or how many days I have to just fish the body of water for fun.
The size of the sections will vary depending on contours, structure, and the number of places you may want to check out during the course of the day based on what the map shows me. I am certainly not one to just cast bait into the water and work it for five minutes and leave; I will try an assortment of baits if I see signs of fish in any given area to try to establish a working pattern.
Here are some key elements that you can usually look for when it comes to locating bass on any given body of water:
1. Various types of structure
2. Shallow water close to deep water areas
3. Irregular contours
4. Points and point drops
5. Vegetation areas













